Return of Tikal
by KnucklesEnchilada
Summary: Tikal returns to Earth, for the purpose of being a friend to Knuckles. But could there be more to it than meets the eye? Reviews are appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a brisk night on Angel Island. The Master Emerald was in place a top its shrine, spinning as it always did, its guardian and the only resident of the island, Knuckles, sat quietly on the steps in front of it. He was deep in thought. He spent a lot of his time this way, just sitting and thinking, after all when someone has lived alone their entire life, what else could they do? His mind would wander many places. Lately, however, his mind would only go to one place, the Chaos Scare that occurred about four years ago. For the past few weeks, in fact, it was all he could think about. He thought about everything that happened during the scare, however, he focused mainly on what he had learned about his people through the visions he was shown. More specifically, his thoughts were drawn to one person in particular, the one who sealed herself in the Master Emerald to stop him from destroying the world, Tikal.

Having lived alone his entire life, Knuckles often found himself wishing his people would return, and Tikal was the closest thing he ever got. Unfortunately her stay was only temporary, and after Sonic calmed Chaos' heart, she ascended into the heavens with Chaos.

"Still," Knuckles thought to himself, "maybe there's a chance that she could…."

"Who am I kidding? What reason would she, or any of them have to come back, they are probably better off where ever they are."

With that Knuckles quelled his thoughts and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, up in the heavens, Tikal had observed Sonic and his friends since she arrived after the Chaos scare. Being friends with the God of Destruction, and for what she accomplished in her time, she was made Chaos' counterpart, the Goddess of Peace. Tikal hated the idea of being a Goddess, however. Her grandmother always taught her to live a simple, peaceful life, and having as much attention, responsibility, and power as a Goddess of Peace made her feel uneasy. Although she looked down on all of Sonic's friends, lately she focused her attention to Knuckles. Like all the Gods and Goddesses, she had the ability to look deep into a person's heart and mind, and she saw how much Knuckles longed for someone from his tribe to return, and that he was specifically thinking of her. While watching Knuckles, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"AH!" She shouted. "Oh Chaos, you scared me."

"You sure do keep a close eye on him, Tikal."

"It's just… all he wants is for someone to come back. And he's specifically thinking of me. I don't know why, but he is."

"Well, you're the only one he really got to meet."

"I suppose…" Tikal looked down on Knuckles with a slightly sad expression as she said this.

"You want to go down and be with him, don't you?" Chaos asked.

Tikal sighed and responded, "yes, but it's not even an option, is it?"

"Well, I don't know, you'd have to ask Light Gaia, but I suppose there is a chance."

"I'll go ask him. Wish me luck."

With that Tikal went to ask Light Gaia for permission to leave her position as the Goddess of Peace, and resume a mortal life on Angel Island with Knuckles. It took some convincing, but she was given his blessing. She said goodbye to her friend Chaos and was set to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was around midnight on Angel Island, and the Master Emerald guardian Knuckles was still sound asleep on the steps of the shrine. Storm clouds began to roll in and shortly after it started to rain. Knuckles finally awoke a few minutes later when it began to pour.

"I'd better find some shelter, or I'm going to end up sick," Knuckles thought to himself.

He took cover in a cave not too far from the shrine, and started a fire to keep warm. Not long after Knuckles had taken shelter it began to rain even harder.

"Geez, I've never seen it rain on this part of the island in the winter, let alone this hard." Knuckles observed.

Huge bolts, bigger than Knuckles had ever seen, began to shoot across the sky. The lightning bolts were so large and bright that it made it seem as if the sun had risen. Suddenly, one of the bolts struck the island, causing the loudest boom Knuckles had ever heard. He practically jumped out of his skin when he heard it strike. Knuckles noticed that it had struck right in front of the shrine and ran out of the cave to investigate.

"I hope the island isn't damaged." Knuckles thought as he ran as fast as he could to the shrine.

When he arrived where the lightning struck he screeched to a halt and his mouth fell agape. He saw an echidna with orange fur with white bands in her dreadlocks lying on the ground, it was Tikal.

"What in the world is she doing here?!" Knuckles thought as he took her upper body in his arms. She was unconscious. Knuckles picked her up and took her to the cave he was taking shelter in. He lied her down next to the fire and waited for her to wake up. It took about an hour for Tikal to finally come to, and when she did she sat up and looked around in a semi panic state, until she saw Knuckles. Seeing him put her mind at ease.

"uhh…. Hi Knuckles…" Tikal said nervously, not knowing what kind of reaction to expect.

Knuckles said nothing for what seemed like an eternity. He didn't know what to say. Earlier he was wishing someone from his tribe would return, and now one was sitting right in front of him.

"I'm not dreaming am I?" He asked.

"No, I'm really here." Tikal replied. "Look, Knuckles, I know you're probably surprised to see me and I know you have a lot of questions…"

Tikal cut herself off and passed out, but luckily Knuckles managed to catch her before she fell over.

"She must be exhausted." He said aloud. "I'd better let her get some rest."

He lied her back down next to the fire, and decided to take around the island, now that the storm was over. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep after what had just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning Tikal woke up and immediately noticed that Knuckles was nowhere to be found. At first she was a little worried, but she knew Knuckles could take care of himself and decided to wait in front of the Master Emerald alter for him to return. She sat alone for about a half hour before Knuckles finally returned. He was carrying arms full of fruit of many different varieties that could be found on the island.

"Are you ok?" he asked Tikal.

"Yes… I'm sorry about last night Knuckles, I was just exhausted. Returning took a lot of my energy." Tikal explained.

"Don't worry about it" Knuckles reassured her "the important thing is that you're okay."

"I am" she assured him.

"Good, I brought you something to eat. Take whatever, and however much you like."

Knuckles laid the fruit he was carrying down on the grass in front of her. Tikal scanned the wide variety of food Knuckles had brought, and decided to take a bunch of bananas and a melon.

"Thank you Knuckles, but you didn't have to bring me anything" Tikal said.

"It was no trouble, I was getting myself breakfast anyways, so I figured I might as well get as much as I could carry so you could have some." Knuckles assured her.

"Well thank you anyway."

Tikal was actually quite hungry and ate the fruit she selected rather quickly, much to Knuckles' surprise. When they were done Knuckles set the leftover food, even though there wasn't much, aside for later.

"Knuckles" Tikal began "I know you must have so many questions to ask me. Now that I have gotten some rest, I'd be happy to explain answer anything you want."

"How about… you just tell me the whole story as to why you are here." Knuckles replied.

So, that's exactly what Tikal did. She explained that she had been the Goddess of peace and had used her powers to look into Knuckles' heart and see how much he wanted someone from his tribe to return so he wouldn't have to be alone.

"So you returned just because I wanted someone to?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, yes…" Tikal replied "but to tell you the truth, I did it for myself too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I never really got to live my life, when you think about it. I spent almost my whole life trying to convince my father not to go to war, and I eventually had to lock myself away to stop Chaos, which I was happy to do, but I also just want a chance to live my life."

"I see, well you are more than welcome to stay here with me, if you want."

"I would love to." Tikal replied happily.

"Alright well, come with me." Knuckles told Tikal, who stood up.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"For a walk, follow me."


	4. Chapter 4

Tikal followed and listened intently as Knuckles showed her around the island. It had changed quite a bit since the last time she had seen it, but since it had been well over 3,000 years, this didn't really surprise her. She couldn't help but feel a little sad, however, that all of the beautiful buildings and temples from her time were nowhere to be found.

"Is the temple in the Mystic Ruins really the only thing left from my time?" Tikal asked Knuckles, hoping he would know of some other ruin she could see.

"Well, I don't know" Knuckles replied "I mean I didn't even know what the temple in the Mystic Ruins was until the Chaos scare. But I can show you some of the older structures around the island, and you can tell me if you know what they are."

"I'd love to see them!" Tikal replied excitedly.

Knuckles first took her to Marble Garden, which was only about a 10 minute walk or so from the Master Emerald Shrine. Tikal was awe struck by the hundreds and hundreds of ancient structures. She noticed that the sandstone used to build the structures was very similar to that used by her people to build their stone houses and palaces. However, she didn't recognize any of the structures.

"Well, it certainly looks like something we would have built, but I don't recognize it. Truth be told I never really left the capital city, unless I was visiting Chaos at the shrine. But judging by the stone work, it was probably built by one of the other villages in our tribe." Tikal explained.

"Wait a second." Knuckles interjected "You never left the capital city?"

"Uhh…well, no." Tikal replied sheepishly.

"Probably, should have mentioned that before." Knuckles said slightly annoyed that he might have brought Tikal here for nothing.

"I'm sorry." Tikal said with a genuine sound of disappointment in her voice.

"Don't worry about it…" Knuckles voice trailed off as he noticed something coming towards the island. He recognized it almost immediately as the Tornado 2, Sonic standing atop the wing as Tails flew towards the island.

"What do they want?" Knuckles asked sounding annoyed.

"Who is it?" Tikal asked.

"Sonic and Tails, come on they'll probably be landing around the shrine looking for me."

They walked back towards the shrine, where sure enough, Sonic and Tails were in fact waiting for Knuckles to show up. Knuckles walked up to them, Tikal trailed behind, a little hesitant to let Sonic and Tails know about her return.

"What are you guys doing here?" Knuckles asked.

"Well hello to you too Knucklehead." Sonic replied sarcastically.

"Sonic said we should come see you, we've haven't seen or heard from you in a few weeks." Tails added, not wanting to get involved in the squabble between Sonic and Knuckles.

"Where have you been Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"Where do you think I've been? Guarding the Master Emerald." Knuckles replied more annoyed that Sonic would ask such a stupid question.

Before Sonic could fire back with a sarcastic quip like he normally would, he noticed Tikal approaching the shrine from the direction Knuckles came from. He shoved Knuckles out of the way, and walked up to her. Tails noticed her too and followed Sonic.

"Tikal?! What are you doing here?" Sonic and Tails said in unison.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sonic and Tails continued to stare at Tikal in awe waiting for her answer. Tikal looked over to Knuckles and then back to Sonic and Tails. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond. She didn't really want to go into great detail as to why she had returned.

"Well…" Tikal began "I came back because Knuckles wanted someone from his tribe to return, and as far as I know, I am the only one with the power to do so. Also, to be honest I just wanted to come back and be able to live my life."

"So you're going to stay here? With Knuckles?" Sonic asked sounding really confused for some reason.

"Well, yes… is there something wrong with that?" Tikal replied.

"Well, no. It's just since when is he nice enough to let someone stay on 'his' island with him?" Sonic asked. He seemed genuinely confused but also slightly sarcastic in his tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Knuckles interjected angrily.

"I don't see why you don't get it Knucklehead. You get angry when Tails and I just show up for a visit, but you're willing to let Tikal stay here with you? I find it hard to believe is all." Sonic said looking over at Tails, who didn't want to get involved in this conversation.

Knuckles was growing steadily angrier. He knew Sonic was right that he was showing a double standard in his actions, but he didn't appreciate being called a jerk either. Tikal could tell Knuckles was going to lose his temper and do something drastic, so she decided to interject and jumped in-between the two.

"Guys, please don't fight. Sonic, Knuckles told me I was welcome to stay already." Tikal said hoping this would get Sonic to back off. Unfortunately it didn't.

"But why?" Sonic asked.

"What difference does it make to you?!" at this point Knuckles was shouting in Sonic's face. "I was just trying to be nice, ok?! It's not like she has anywhere else to go! Besides she lived here before me anyways!"

"STOP!" Tikal once again interjected, this time yelling as loud as she could to make sure Sonic and Knuckles were paying attention. "Enough fighting. We're all friends here."

"Alright, alright. Sorry for getting on your case Knucklehead." Sonic said.

"Grrr. Its fine, I guess." Knuckles replied.

Tikal was relieved that Sonic and Knuckles had ended their stupid squabble, but was distracted by the sound of a humming coming from the South of their current location. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the entire island, startling everyone. Knuckles look over and saw a huge robot, painted in red and gold moving quickly towards them. The robot had a familiar logo that Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails recognized immediately.

"Eggman!" the three shouted in unison.


End file.
